First Bike Symposium to highlight local initiatives

Published: Friday, February 21, 2014 at 2:13 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, February 21, 2014 at 2:13 p.m.

The wheels are in motion to increase the breadth of bicycling opportunities for all levels in Henderson County, with a Bike Symposium to be held Monday in advance of several new initiatives this spring designed to encourage people to hit the road and the trail.

Want to go?

No less than a dozen local businesses, nonprofits and government departments will be represented at the three-hour event, a collaborative effort to inspire a more bike-friendly community here.

“It's the first time that we're getting all the groups together in Henderson County that represent forms of cycling. There's a lot of information to be gleaned from this,” said Donnie Kirkwood, manager of Sycamore Cycles in downtown Hendersonville.

“There are so many opportunities here, it doesn't matter if you're a serious road bicyclist or a mountain biker or if you just like to go out and ride on the greenway with your kids after work,” added Laura Rice of Henderson County Parks and Recreation. “I think there are a lot of misconceptions about bicyclists in Henderson County, and even within the cycling community I think they're not aware of what other groups are doing. So this is a really great opportunity for people to learn about what you can do.”

Each group will have up to 10 minutes to make its presentation about programs for 2014 and plans for the future, followed by a meet and greet in which the organizations will answer questions and look to recruit potential volunteers, Kirkwood said.

Initiatives to be discussed include an update on plans to expand the Oklawaha Greenway in Hendersonville. City Engineer Brent Detwiler said the city has received a grant from the N.C. Department of Transportation for the full amount of the project, $1.2 million, and has begun the design process.

Detwiler said construction on the additional 9,000 feet of Greenway, connecting the 10-foot-wide path from just south of North Main Street to Berkeley Mills Park, is scheduled to begin in mid-2015 and be completed by June 2016.

Meanwhile, Rice said the county's Parks and Recreation department is working with the Western North Carolina chapter of Trips for Kids, an international nonprofit that provides mentoring for kids who don't have access to bikes, to establish an activities-based program based in Jackson Park starting in April.

Rice said an anonymous local donor has provided 15 bikes, plus a storage trailer, for the six-week program, which is free and initially open to kids in grades 3 to 5. The program is limited, and there will be a signup and registration process during the symposium.

“Basically, we'll go over how a bike works, how to be safe on the bike and different skills and techniques,” Rice said of the program. “We'll use the greenway, and we'll use the trails in Jackson Park.”

Trips for Kids will also be part of a massive community group ride hosted by Sycamore each Saturday beginning April 26. The events “will have something for everyone, from first-time riders to experienced athletes,” Kirkwood said, and includes the opportunity for senior citizens to load up their bikes in a van provided by Parks and Recreation and ride the popular Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville County, S.C.

“The reason we're doing this,” Kirkwood said, “is that we get a lot of tourists come through town and they don't know what to do, and so they always call us and say, 'Hey, what do we do on Saturday?' This is it. No matter what caliber of rider you are, there will be a ride leader for everything. It's not just Sycamore — this is the community, all of us together.”

Presenters at Monday's symposium include Blue Ridge Bicycle Club, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, Tour d'Apple organizers from the Four Seasons Rotary Club, Friends of the Ecusta Trail, Hendersonville Planning Department, Henderson County Parks and Recreation, Trips for Kids WNC, Friends of DuPont Forest, iDaph events race promoter, Land of Sky Regional Council, Hendersonville Bike Park and the local chapter of nonprofit Bike & Build, which organizes cross-country cycling trips to benefit affordable housing in the U.S.

<p>The wheels are in motion to increase the breadth of bicycling opportunities for all levels in Henderson County, with a Bike Symposium to be held Monday in advance of several new initiatives this spring designed to encourage people to hit the road and the trail.</p><p>No less than a dozen local businesses, nonprofits and government departments will be represented at the three-hour event, a collaborative effort to inspire a more bike-friendly community here.</p><p>“It's the first time that we're getting all the groups together in Henderson County that represent forms of cycling. There's a lot of information to be gleaned from this,” said Donnie Kirkwood, manager of Sycamore Cycles in downtown Hendersonville.</p><p>“There are so many opportunities here, it doesn't matter if you're a serious road bicyclist or a mountain biker or if you just like to go out and ride on the greenway with your kids after work,” added Laura Rice of Henderson County Parks and Recreation. “I think there are a lot of misconceptions about bicyclists in Henderson County, and even within the cycling community I think they're not aware of what other groups are doing. So this is a really great opportunity for people to learn about what you can do.”</p><p>Each group will have up to 10 minutes to make its presentation about programs for 2014 and plans for the future, followed by a meet and greet in which the organizations will answer questions and look to recruit potential volunteers, Kirkwood said.</p><p>Initiatives to be discussed include an update on plans to expand the Oklawaha Greenway in Hendersonville. City Engineer Brent Detwiler said the city has received a grant from the N.C. Department of Transportation for the full amount of the project, $1.2 million, and has begun the design process. </p><p>Detwiler said construction on the additional 9,000 feet of Greenway, connecting the 10-foot-wide path from just south of North Main Street to Berkeley Mills Park, is scheduled to begin in mid-2015 and be completed by June 2016.</p><p>Meanwhile, Rice said the county's Parks and Recreation department is working with the Western North Carolina chapter of Trips for Kids, an international nonprofit that provides mentoring for kids who don't have access to bikes, to establish an activities-based program based in Jackson Park starting in April. </p><p>Rice said an anonymous local donor has provided 15 bikes, plus a storage trailer, for the six-week program, which is free and initially open to kids in grades 3 to 5. The program is limited, and there will be a signup and registration process during the symposium.</p><p>“Basically, we'll go over how a bike works, how to be safe on the bike and different skills and techniques,” Rice said of the program. “We'll use the greenway, and we'll use the trails in Jackson Park.”</p><p>Trips for Kids will also be part of a massive community group ride hosted by Sycamore each Saturday beginning April 26. The events “will have something for everyone, from first-time riders to experienced athletes,” Kirkwood said, and includes the opportunity for senior citizens to load up their bikes in a van provided by Parks and Recreation and ride the popular Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville County, S.C.</p><p>“The reason we're doing this,” Kirkwood said, “is that we get a lot of tourists come through town and they don't know what to do, and so they always call us and say, 'Hey, what do we do on Saturday?' This is it. No matter what caliber of rider you are, there will be a ride leader for everything. It's not just Sycamore — this is the community, all of us together.”</p><p>Presenters at Monday's symposium include Blue Ridge Bicycle Club, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, Tour d'Apple organizers from the Four Seasons Rotary Club, Friends of the Ecusta Trail, Hendersonville Planning Department, Henderson County Parks and Recreation, Trips for Kids WNC, Friends of DuPont Forest, iDaph events race promoter, Land of Sky Regional Council, Hendersonville Bike Park and the local chapter of nonprofit Bike & Build, which organizes cross-country cycling trips to benefit affordable housing in the U.S.</p>